How much does the WhatsApp Business API cost?
Every WhatsApp API bill has the same parts: Meta's charge per message, a software fee, and sometimes a provider fee on every message. Here are the real numbers, and why Mywa is only $14.99/month with Meta billing you directly at its official rates.
Updated October 2026
Meta charges by the country of the number you message.
Messages you send per month
Offers, launches, reminders to buy
Order, payment and booking updates
One-time passwords
Replies within 24 hours of a customer's message
Each gets 1,000 free replies a month
How you pay
Businesses in India are billed in rupees; everyone else in US dollars.
Your total per month
₹6,814
Two bills. That’s all. GST included.
1 · Paid to Meta, directly
₹5,635
Charged to the card on your own WhatsApp Business Account at Meta’s official rates. This money never passes through Mywa.
- Marketing · 5,000 × ₹0.8631₹5,092
- Utility · 3,000 × ₹0.115₹407
- Authentication (OTP) · 0 × ₹0.115₹0.00
- Service replies · 1,000 × ₹0.115₹136
1,000 service replies free this month (1,000 per number).
2 · Paid to Mywa
₹1,179
One flat subscription. Every feature and 5 team members included.
- No markup on Meta's rates
- No per-message fee from Mywa
- No per-seat or setup fees
Meta’s list rates effective 1 October 2026, before tax. Utility and OTP rates drop at high volume, and chats that start from a click-to-WhatsApp ad are free for up to 7 days. All rates by country
Three parts, and only one of them is fixed by Meta
Meta sets the price of each message. On its rate card effective 1 October 2026, a marketing message costs from $0.0109 to $0.1597 depending on the customer's country, and utility and authentication messages cost much less. Every provider pays Meta the same.
What differs between providers is everything else: what the software costs, and whether the provider adds its own fee or margin to each message. That second part is easy to miss on a pricing page, and it's the one that grows as you send more.
Mywa charges one flat subscription, $14.99/month or $149/year (₹999/month in India), with every feature and up to 5 team members on one WhatsApp number. Meta bills your own card directly for messages at its official rates. Mywa never touches that money, so it can't mark it up.
The three parts of every WhatsApp API bill
- 1
1. Meta's charge per message
Charged per delivered template message, by category (marketing, utility, authentication) and by the country code of the number you message. Replies within 24 hours are free for the first 1,000 per number a month, then charged at the service rate. Chats that start from a click-to-WhatsApp ad are free for up to 7 days once you reply.
- 2
2. The software fee
The provider's subscription for the inbox, campaigns and automation. Some charge per user or per number. Mywa is $14.99/month with 5 team members included.
- 3
3. Provider fees and markup on messages
Some providers add a fixed fee to each message, others resell Meta's messages at a higher rate from a prepaid balance. Either way it's charged on every message, so it grows with your volume. Mywa adds neither.
What Meta charges per message in the biggest markets
USD per delivered message, Meta's list rates effective 1 October 2026, before tax. The rate follows your customer's country, not yours.
| Customer's country | Marketing | Utility | Authentication | Service* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States & Canada | $0.025 | $0.0034 | $0.0034 | $0.0034 |
| United Kingdom | $0.0635 | $0.022 | $0.022 | $0.022 |
| Germany | $0.1365 | $0.055 | $0.055 | $0.055 |
| UAE | $0.0576 | $0.0157 | $0.0157 | $0.0157 |
| Saudi Arabia | $0.0576 | $0.0107 | $0.0107 | $0.0107 |
| Brazil | $0.0625 | $0.0068 | $0.0068 | $0.0068 |
| Mexico | $0.0397 | $0.0085 | $0.0085 | $0.0085 |
| Indonesia | $0.0411 | $0.025 | $0.025 | $0.025 |
| Nigeria | $0.0516 | $0.0067 | $0.0067 | $0.0067 |
| India | $0.0118 | $0.0014 | $0.0014 | $0.0014 |
*After the first 1,000 free per number each month. Utility and authentication rates drop at high monthly volume. Every market's rates are on the pricing-by-country page.
How WhatsApp API providers charge on top of Meta
As each provider states on its own pricing page, checked 25 October 2026. Meta's message charges come on top of all of these.
| Provider | Software fee | Fee on each message | How Meta's charges are paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mywa | $14.99/month or $149/year, 5 team members, 1 number | None | Meta bills your own card directly, at its official rates |
| Twilio | None listed | $0.005 per message, sent or received; $0.001 per failed message | Added to your Twilio bill |
| Gupshup | None listed | $0.001 per message | “Billed at actuals” by Gupshup |
| 360dialog | €49, €99 or €500 per number per month; inbox included from €99 | None (“no markup on Meta fees”) | Meta's fees, added to the plan |
| respond.io | From $79/month billed yearly ($99 monthly), 5 users | None (“passes Meta's rates through unchanged”) | Prepaid WhatsApp balance you top up |
| Meta Cloud API, directly | None, but you build and run the software yourself | None | Meta bills your own card |
A provider without a per-message fee can still cost more overall through its software price, and a provider with one can be cheaper at very low volume. Compare the whole monthly bill at your own volume.
Source: Twilio WhatsApp pricing (checked 25 October 2026) · Gupshup pricing (checked 25 October 2026) · 360dialog pricing (checked 25 October 2026) · respond.io pricing (checked 25 October 2026) · respond.io on WhatsApp billing (checked 25 October 2026)
What a per-message fee adds each month
On top of Meta's charges, which are the same everywhere. Mywa's fee stays flat however much you send; a per-message fee keeps climbing.
| Mywa: flat subscription, no per-message fee | $14.99 flat |
|---|---|
| Gupshup: $0.001 per message | $20.00 |
| Twilio: $0.005 per message | $100.00 |
| Mywa: flat subscription, no per-message fee | $14.99 flat |
|---|---|
| Gupshup: $0.001 per message | $85.00 |
| Twilio: $0.005 per message | $425.00 |
Counts only the messages you send. Twilio also charges $0.005 for each message a customer sends you, and Gupshup charges its fee on incoming session messages, so real fees are higher. Fees as listed on each provider's pricing page, checked 25 October 2026.
A real monthly bill with Mywa, country by country
A growing business (10,000 offers, 5,000 updates, 1,000 OTPs, 4,000 replies) messaging customers in one country, at Meta's rates effective 1 October 2026, with 1,000 free replies.
| Customers in | Paid to Meta | Paid to Mywa | Total / month |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States & Canada | $280.60 | $14.99 | $295.59 |
| United Kingdom | $833.00 | $14.99 | $847.99 |
| Germany | $1,860.00 | $14.99 | $1,874.99 |
| UAE | $717.30 | $14.99 | $732.29 |
| Saudi Arabia | $672.30 | $14.99 | $687.29 |
| Brazil | $686.20 | $14.99 | $701.19 |
| Mexico | $473.50 | $14.99 | $488.49 |
| Indonesia | $636.00 | $14.99 | $650.99 |
| Nigeria | $576.30 | $14.99 | $591.29 |
| India | $130.60 | $14.99 | $145.59 |
Before local taxes. Mywa on the monthly plan; annual works out cheaper. Businesses in India are billed in rupees: see the India pricing page.
Six ways to lower your WhatsApp API bill
Meta's rates are fixed, but how many of each message you pay for is up to you:
- 1
Send order, delivery, payment and booking updates as utility templates. They cost a fraction of marketing messages in every market.
- 2
Answer within 24 hours of a customer's message: the first 1,000 replies per number each month are free.
- 3
Run click-to-WhatsApp ads. Once you reply, the chat is free for up to 7 days, whatever you send.
- 4
Send campaigns to people likely to care. Fewer wasted marketing messages is the biggest saving of all.
- 5
Avoid per-message provider fees. They look small per message but add up to more than the software at real volume.
- 6
Check who bills you for messages. If it's Meta, through your own Business Manager, you're paying Meta's rate.
Frequently asked questions
Meta's message charges plus your provider's fees. A growing business sending 10,000 offers, 5,000 updates, 1,000 OTPs, 4,000 replies to US customers pays Meta about $280.60 a month at Meta's rates effective 1 October 2026. With Mywa the only other charge is $14.99/month flat, so the whole bill is about $295.59.
No. Meta charges per delivered template message, and you need software to use the API. Replies within 24 hours are free for the first 1,000 per number a month, and chats from click-to-WhatsApp ads are free for up to 7 days once you reply.
Mywa adds none: Meta bills your own card directly. 360dialog's pricing page says “no markup on Meta fees” (plans from €49 per number a month), and respond.io says it passes Meta's rates through unchanged. Twilio adds $0.005 per message and Gupshup $0.001. Checked 25 October 2026.
Twilio's WhatsApp pricing page lists a fee of $0.005 per message, inbound or outbound, on top of Meta's charges, and $0.001 for each failed message (checked 25 October 2026). At 20,000 messages sent a month that's $100.00 before any replies you receive.
Your customer's. Meta charges by the country code of the number you message, so a business anywhere pays the UK rate to message a UK number.
$14.99/month or $149/year plus local taxes (₹999/month plus GST in India), with every feature, up to 5 team members and one WhatsApp number. Meta bills messages directly at its official rates, with no markup and no per-message fee from Mywa.
Keep exploring
Meta's rates for all 47 markets.
Bulk message cost1,000 to 100,000 campaign messages, every country.
WhatsApp OTP pricingWhat a one-time code costs in every country.
The official WhatsApp Business APIMeta's rates, $14.99/month flat.
Mywa pricing$14.99/month, every feature, zero markup.
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